Summer Shiver
by all over the streets
Summary: Hermione spends the summer at the Burrow between her fifth and sixth years and becomes closer to a certain twin during her stay there. But the romance that begins to blossom isn't meant to last. GW/HG. WIP-HIATUS.


**Disclaimer:** I own nothing. Except for wisdom teeth. Oh, wait...

**Author's Note:** This is compatible with all the books, including the epilogue of Deathly Hallows, and takes place during the summer after Order of the Phoenix. It's not the typical happy-ending story so far as I've figured in my mind. Consider yourself warned.

**One.**

Hermione Granger looked over her shoulder at the car that was slowly disappearing down the lane. She was surrounded by her bags and her cat Crookshanks was winding through her legs as she watched her parents disappear. She was spending the summer at the Burrow with Ron's family and had to admit that she would miss her muggle life. Things worked so differently at the Weasley's house, especially now that the twins were no longer going to be at Hogwarts. They used magic all over the place because they didn't have to worry about begin expelled from Hogwarts, and Ron said they were constantly pranking everyone in the house in preparation for the grand opening of their joke shop later that summer. Hermione was looking forward to spending the next few months with her second family, but that was one thing she wished she didn't have to endure.

Molly Weasley squeezed her around her shoulders tightly as her husband, Arthur, began to lug her trunk and other bags into the leaning, towering, lopsided house that they called a home. Mr. Weasley set the bags down with a grunt in the entrance hall and looked around for one of his six sons, all of whom were home for the summer but seemed to be making themselves scarce. Unfortunately for him, Bill walked into Mr. Weasley's sights.

"Bill, m'boy," Mr. Weasley said, pouncing. "Be a lad and help me carry these upstairs for Hermione. She'll be staying in the room next to Ginny's for the summer."

Bill hesitated for a moment, but stepped forward and helped his father. He nodded his greeting to Hermione politely and started shuffling with her bags up to her room. Hermione's hand went to the strap that crossed her chest and went down to her hip, holding her purse up. She gripped it tightly, unsure of what to do now. She had never been uncomfortable around the Weasleys. But then, she had never been around Mr. or Mrs. Weasley without Ron or Harry there as a buffer for conversation.

"Would you care for some tea, dear?" Mrs. Weasley offered, her arm still around the young girl. Hermione merely nodded and let the older woman steer her to the well-used kitchen. Hermione took a seat at the large table that the Weasleys used for family gatherings and felt incredibly lonely. "Ron's out flying with Charlie. The devil's gone and brought his work home, and Ronald's decided he's taken a liking to dragons. As if it weren't bad enough worrying about Charlie getting killed, now he's corrupting my youngest boy."

Hermione chuckled, not surprised that Ron wanted to learn about dragons. Even though Ron had a penchant for being a coward sometimes, he really was quite curious about everything. Especially what those people in his family did. It took only a few minutes for Bill and Mr. Weasley to put Hermione's bags in her room, and they soon returned to the first floor. Bill nodded to Hermione again, then headed off to do what he had been meaning to do before Mr. Weasley had roped him into being a pack mule. Mr. Weasley sat at the table with Hermione and immediately started to ask questions about muggles.

"So, Hermione," Mr. Weasley began. "Toasters. They're absolutely fascinating. How do they work?"

"I- I couldn't begin to tell you, Mr. Weasley," Hermione said, somewhat startled. "I only know that they run off electricity and produce heat to make bread and things warmer."

"Electricity?" Mr. Weasley seemed perplexed.

"Why, yes," Hermione said. "You don't know about electricity? How is that?" Mr. Weasley shrugged. "It's basically like harnessed lightning. It's used to power things. It's been around for _ages_."

"Fascinating! And it produces heat?"

"Oh, honestly Arthur!" Mrs. Weasley said, cutting into their conversation. "Let the girl get settled in for a day or two before you start interrogating her!" For once, Hermione was glad that Mrs. Weasley had interrupted a conversation she had been having. Mr. Weasley looked disappointed, but did as his wife directed. He stood from the table and walked out of the room as Mrs. Weasley placed a cup of steaming tea in front of Hermione. "Here you go, dear. Drink up."

"Thank you, Mrs. Weasley," Hermione said, smiling up at the round lady. Mrs. Weasley turned and walked back into the cooking area, already starting on lunch for her large family. Hermione couldn't imagine having seven children to take care of, not to mention Bill's wife Fleur, Hermione, and Mr. Weasley. It just seemed like more work than any person could handle.

"Incoming!"

Hermione would have recognized the pair of voices even if she hadn't heard them in years, and she instinctively ducked below the table, abandoning her tea for cover. Mrs. Weasley wasn't so lucky, and instead of escaping safely, she was surrounded by sparkling gnats that kept landing on her, jumping off, and landing on her again. The upper part of the kitchen was full of them, and the only safe area was below the table and within a two foot radius of the pranksters themselves, who walked through the kitchen door cackling.

"Hullo, Mum!" Fred singsonged and kissed his mother on the cheek. George kissed her other cheek but said nothing, preferring to look at the damage that they had caused instead.

"Fred! George!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed. "Get rid of these..._things_ immediately!"

"Yes, mother," the pair said together. With a flick of their wands, the sparkling gnats vanished. Hermione ventured to poke her head out from under the table, scared that there was more. She sighed when nothing else happened, and she settled back into her seat at the table.

"Ah, company!" Fred said, quickly making his way over to Hermione's side. George walked over more slowly, taking Hermione's appearance in. She looked startled, but relieved. He assumed she had been startled by the prank, and was relieved to have made it through without being attacked by the gnats. Her hair was less bushy than normal, and her brown eyes were bright with the excitement that had just transpired in the kitchen. She looked well, and even though George barely knew her, he was happy she was at the Burrow.

"Hello, Fred," Hermione murmured. George was impressed that she could tell them apart.

"What are you talking about?" Fred said. "I'm George!"

It wasn't surprising that he was trying this on her. Fred delighted in confusing people when it came to their identities. But Hermione wasn't one to be fooled easily.

"No, you're Fred. That's George."

"Merlin, Hermione," Fred said, pouting. "You take the fun out of the joke."

Hermione ignored Fred. "Hello, George."

"Morning, Hermione," George said smoothly, joining his brother at Hermione's side. "Welcome to the Burrow."

Hermione had always noticed the slight differences between the twins. George was quieter than Fred, and usually looked before he leaped into pranks. Each had the Weasley red hair, blue eyes, and freckles, but George was a little bit taller than Fred and had a small bump in his nose near the top of it. Fred always talked first while George preferred to listen before adding to the conversation. They were both witty and loved playing practical jokes, and without one of them, the other could not exist comfortably.

"Thanks, George," Hermione replied. "How's your summer been?"

"Great!" Fred said, interrupting in his excitement. George smiled and nodded his agreement with his brother. "We've been working on our latest tricks! Wanna come see?"

Hermione chuckled, but she nodded and followed the pair from the kitchen. Fred sauntered ahead proudly, but George hung back some to talk to Hermione. He towered a good seven inches over her, and she had to crane her neck backwards if she wanted to get a good look at him. The view from her position next to him offered a fairly good visual of the inside of his left nostril, so Hermione opted to look forward as they climbed the narrow stairs.

"Our workshop is in the attic now," George explained, her shoulder brushing against his arm as they climbed. Fred was quickly putting a good distance between himself and the pair in his excitement to show off the twins' new pranks. "Ron wasn't too happy about us stealing his room, but he got over it quick enough. Mum didn't want us to be so close to her and Dad's room when we were testing things."

"That's understandable," Hermione said, nodding. "I can see there being a lot of loud booms going on there."

"You have no idea," George murmured. They were halfway up the stairs now, and Hermione was started to get winded. She had forgotten how many flights of stairs it took to get to the attic at the Burrow. "But we've gotten a lot done in the past month or two since we left Hogwarts. We've been saving up, and we're probably going to buy one of the empty shops up at Diagon Alley."

Hermione's eyebrows knit together. "Isn't there a lot of trouble with businesses up there? I've heard lots of places are closing down because Voldemort came back."

George shrugged. "Yeah, but Fred and I figure that a joke shop will do just fine. People need a laugh now more than ever. There'll be tons of kids there when people come up to Diagon Alley to get supplies for school."

"I almost didn't get to come back this year," Hermione said, not knowing where the information had come from. She hadn't planned on telling anyone but Harry and Ron that her parents had almost kept her at home. Even muggles knew that something was going on, and her parents knew that it had to do with magic. It wasn't something they were comfortable with, but Hermione had begged them to allow her to go back to Hogwarts under the premise that it was the safest place on earth for her to be.

"What?" George said, surprised. "Why?"

"My parents. They're worried. Even they know something's going on without me telling them and they're _dentists._"

"Bloody hell." George ran his hand through his hair, keeping his eyes trained on the stairs. They had reached the last flight of stairs and Fred was waiting for them at the door to the attic, his foot tapping impatiently. "I'm glad they let you come back though, Hermione. Really. Hogwarts needs people like you."

Hermione wanted to ask what he meant, but they had arrived at the attic and she felt like that conversation would have to wait until another time. A time when Fred wasn't present. Which would be seldom. Hermione hoped George intended to continue the conversation with her later, but he gave no indication that he did. He merely took a key out of his pocket, unlocked the door, and held it open for his brother and Hermione to enter the room before him. Disappointed, Hermione followed Fred into the cluttered space.

"Watch your step, love!" Fred called back. There were burn marks throughout the room, and Hermione could see where some of the experiments had gone wrong and destroyed some inanimate objects. She was surprised by how interested she found herself in the workings of the trickster's toys. She had always been a bit annoyed by their pranks, but she could see the amount of work that went into them. She even had to admit that she had liked their farewell address to Dolores Umbridge the year before, but that had mostly been because Hermione couldn't stand the old bag. The intrigue Hermione felt only grew as she looked around the room. She felt George's hand on her shoulder, guiding her as she looked around.

"Incredible, isn't it?" George murmured. "It's a pain to pay for supplies though. I don't know how we're going to keep our savings enough to open the shop. But we're going to do it someday."

"There's so much _stuff_," Hermione replied. She ran her hand over a small pouch of an unknown powder, curious what it did. The twins were notoriously good at potions - well, they were mostly good at anything they tried to do. All of their business ventures during the school years Hermione had spent with them had been successes, either causing mayhem for the faculty or giving the student body a good laugh or entertainment galore. Hermione hated to admit it, but they had left their mark on Hogwarts and it wouldn't ever be the same without their antics. But if their shop made it through, they would still manage to be at Hogwarts in spirit.

"I know! That's the best part!" Fred said over his shoulder as he led her to the back of the room. Two desks sat across from each other, each cluttered with blueprints and notebooks, the contents of which Hermione could only guess at. "We're going to be the best thing to happen to Diagon Alley!"

"You seem quite sure about that."

Fred and George shared one of their patent looks before they looked at Hermione. "We are," they said in unison, grinning devilishly. Hermione took in the desks, instantly deciding that the messier one of the pair belonged to Fred. As if on cue, the shorter twin took a seat behind the full desk. George remained standing with Hermione.

"Come here, come here," Fred said, waving them over. "I've been brainstorming."

"Hey! That's my notebook!" George exclaimed as Fred opened the book.

"Yes, it is! But I figure we're practically the same person, so we can share ideas every now and again." George rolled his eyes but didn't argue. Hermione had a feeling that they had that argument a lot of the time, and that Fred wasn't the only one who stole notebooks. Fred continued, "Anyways. I've been thinking. And those fireworks we set off when we left Hogwarts were just the beginning!"

Hermione looked skeptical. "I'm not sure that you can outdo that little display, Fred."

"The key word there, my dear Hermione, is _little," _George said. "These fireworks I've got in mind are even bigger than the dragon we set off to chase Umbridge during the fifth year's testing. These fireworks are _monumental._"

"We figured they'd have to be -"

"- because if they weren't, -"

"- we wouldn't be able to outdo ourselves!" Hermione had always envied their ability to finish one another's thoughts. Fred couldn't be too far from the truth when he said they were practically the same person if they could finish each other's sentences as often as they did.

"Well, good luck with that," Hermione murmured. Fred jumped up from his desk and held up a finger for her to wait for him.

"I've got diagrams. Don't you move a muscle!" With that, Fred was gone from the room, heading for his own, Hermione assumed. She chuckled and turned to look at George, who was still standing by her side.

"You two have got quite the plans," Hermione said. George beamed crookedly.

"It's going to be incredible, Hermione. We're going to be rich! Doing something we love! It's almost like seeing Snape with clean hair! That's how exciting it is!" George said, his hands gesturing wildly. Hermione giggled as she watched him become more and more animated. His face lit up and he came even more alive than normal, which most would consider to be impossible. The pair fell silent though, and looked at one another. His blue eyes still glittered with excitement as they caught her own brown eyes. They looked at each other, and Hermione's stomach jumped up to her throat. The silence stretched around them, but it wasn't uncomfortable. For a second, Hermione fancied that they were having a moment, but before she could be sure, Fred and Ron burst into the room.

"Hermione!" Ron exclaimed, rushing to her and giving her a huge bear hug. The quiet was shattered, and Hermione wasn't sure if she had imagined what had transpired a few seconds before or not.


End file.
